It’s spooky reading season! First up this month I’ve got these two bizarro fic titles on loan from my most normal friend

Illinois State Police, US Border Patrol, Cook County sheriffs coordinating to assault protesters.

We’ve been shoved around by state cops with batons. They’ve already arrested one person for being in the street.

Pay less attention to what Gov. Pritzker says, and more attention to what Illinois state security forces do.

The administration wants to dismantle left networks. So we need to double down on connection-building—strengthen our networks, grow deeper relationships, prioritize care. It was an honor to join @mskellymhayes.bsky.social & @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social on Movement Memos. truthout.org/audio/holdin...

Imagine how an impacted person must feel hearing an alarm every time someone walks by Delaware North and sees a DHS vehicle. And there are always DHS vehicles there.

It’s important to avoid the understandable impulse to scream online about how you saw immigration enforcement in public, but that can end up doing more harm than good by spreading what might turn out to be unjustified fear and panic instead of information.

ICYMI: We have pamphlets for the Buffalo Immigrant & Refugee Defense (BIRD) hotline to report ICE sightings for printing and distribution, thanks to @meganpiont.bsky.social drive.google.com/drive/mobile...

US universities have several social functions: teaching, research, reproducing white patriarchal capitalism. The Trump regime is an existential threat to the first two, but many university leaders care most about the third one. This may help explain their behavior.

"How to Report ICE" 10/2: Buffalo, CA, Chicago, CO, DC Metro, DE, FL, Indianapolis, KC Metro, MD, MA, NC Triangle, much of NJ, NM, NYC, Phoenix, Philly, Pittsburgh, Portland OR, RI, Rochester NY, St. Louis Metro, St. Peter & Mankato MN, VA, WI, WY San Francisco in Spanish tinyurl.com/mupyyr2x

We need a bigger national spotlight on this building raid, fam. Agents dropped from helicopters onto the roof. Citizens and non-citizens alike were dragged from their homes in the night. People who weren't kidnapped during the raid had their belongings seized after the fact. This is madness.

Well this is supremely messed up 📜 📚

We fight Nazis. They are not strong, smart, genius types—they are not the elite of planners. They just know how to break things—and they are good at propagandist posturing claiming they have already won the war. They are vicious but they can be overcome. Don’t believe it when they say it’s too late.

really, really does contextualise why they feel sexual and gender liberation is an existential threat to their worldview

Remember this the next time your local police department asks for funding for a helicopter. (Fun fact for locals: the Erie County sheriff's office just bought two!)

We made a reading list for you.

FYI, the Buffalo immigration court is operating today and people who have hearings should report for them (virtually if possible). Please share with anyone who needs to know.

I love a book with a broken spine, coffee stains, dog-eared pages. I don’t want some book that has spent its whole life on a shelf. I want a book that has lived and seen some stuff.

Patriarchy is extremely shrill today

Wild that a drunk white dude gets to give an important speech on the importance of being violent and mediocre just because people confuse seeing one minority on the street with the apocalypse

We’re seeing a profound collapse of ethics across professions that once prided themselves on their independence and crucially underpinned the idea of liberal democracy in practice. Across the law, journalism, military, academia, and finance we’ve seen an eager collaboration in their leadership.

We have a minor in need of an extra $1950 for their appointment today. We already contributed $1000 — we can cover the balance as long as we can raise $750 today! www.DonorBox.org/support-the-fund

hey it’s weird to scold people in chicago for not physically attacking ICE in the streets or imply that there is no real resistance occurring! the fact that a lot of things aren’t highly publicized is on purpose! the goal is to keep people safe not win internet points.

Such a frustrating category error. “Doing politics” is not about persuasion. It’s about MOVING THE LEVERS OF POWER. Sometimes you persuade the opposition, sometimes you make deals and sometimes you just recruit those who already agree with you into more action. We don’t do enough of the last bit.

They will never break us. Free them all.

I just want to state for the record that I did have witch trials on my US fascism bingo card. (Political pessimism never fails these days)

To understand Donald Trump's vendetta against "antifa," we have to remember that in 2017, his supporters tried to build a fascist street movement—culminating at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, where one of them murdered Heather Heyer—but were ultimately thwarted by anti-fascists.

When I titled my book "Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone" I really did not anticipate how hard that phrase would eventually hit.

Report from front line resistance to ICE in Chicago.

There are so many people putting their bodies on the line even when there is no one there to record it

Want to learn more about what a bibliographical approach might be for working with hand-press books? Come think with me about how to notice, ask questions, and maybe even discover new things about the material features of old books! 📜📚 #BookHistory

DHS keeps arguing in court that people filming their agents in public amounts to violence, and justifies their attacks on press and protesters. But would this ICE officer have been suspended without the videos taken by press and protesters? Of course not! KEEP. FILMING. EVERYTHING.

I usually resist the coming of fall because Buffalo summers are my fave. But today I rode my bike over a leaf-strewn path to a friend's house, where I learned some dark arts in a moderately creepy basement. So I guess it's officially spooky season.

"It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and protect each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains." -Assata Shakur Rest in power

“Ain’t no power like the power of the people because the power of the people don’t stop!”

But yeah, you gain power when you do the right thing. People like you more, they listen to you more, they want to be around you more, they’ll trust you to make choices they wouldn’t otherwise trust people with. You can’t bully that out of people or manipulate them for it too long.

a sniveling coward who makes up for his deep-seated feelings of inadequacy by worshipping death, violence and the domination of others — many such cases

A lot of people are sharing this with reference to the way ICE agents love to hurt women. It's true. For local folks, I'll also mention that most of the volunteers in immigration court are women, and we won't stop. You could join us.

The fascists have, are and will continue to cause great damage. I am clear eyed but they are NOT invincible if people ACTUALLY stop being ridiculous and take regular and concerted action.

Morning ritual: open bluesky, notice alarming notification number, block all new followers.

Abolish ICE

The cat is on drugs

Chotiner interviews Janeway

I just met an adorable and very friendly one-eyed kitten in the North Buffalo Pet Supplies Plus. Sharing here because I just know that one of you local weirdos wants to adopt a baby cyclops.

Justice for Migrant Families does critically important care work for people in the Buffalo metro area who are impacted by our brutal and unjust immigration system. www.justiceformigrantfamilies.org

me: I can’t understand how anyone could have romantic feelings for a chatbot also me: I’ve got to play DA Inquisition again so I can romance Sera

Currently at a bar patio full of people with good vibes who just sang and danced for a stranger’s birthday. Buffalo provides